Many of us think we use email well. But the true is we don't. Too many of us rush, causing confusion and requiring more time to clarify misunderstandings later.
We miss chances to build relationships, motivate others, close deals and convey important information.
Usual mistakes made by managers, at all levels:
1. Using vague subject lines. "Meeting," "Update," or "Question" provide no value as subject lines.
2. Burying the news. Convey the important points first: put dates, deadlines and deliverables in the first one to three lines of the message.
3. Hiding behind the "BCC" field. At best, the 'blind copy' field is sneaky and risky.
4. Failing to clean up the mess of earlier replies/forwards. Few readers will wade through strings of previous messages.
5. Ignoring grammar and mechanics. PDAs have granted us certain sloppy flexibility, which means you'll impress readers even more when you write precisely.
6. Avoiding necessarily long emails. Longer messages sometimes work best; they can help avoid attachments' hassle and security fuss.
7. Mashing everything together into bulky, imposing, inaccessible paragraphs. Length does not discourage reading; bulk does.
8. Neglecting the human beings at the other end. Email travels between actual people, even though we don't see or hear each other directly.
9. Thinking email works best. Email is not always the best way to communicate.
10. Forgetting that email lasts forever. Most of us read, send and discard emails at lightning speeds.
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